The mind map of the Noble Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah as a model, the easiest way for memorization and contemplation together by Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Darwish

This book comes in its third edition, believing from the researcher that the Noble Quran is the foundation of the nation's renaissance and the secret of its progress in all fields, provided that one understands it truly, contemplates it properly, and recites it with the right recitation. The researcher has tried – with all love and sincerity – to present to the honorable readers in general and to the memorizers of the Book of Allah in particular the best and easiest way to contemplate and memorize the Quran together in an era in which many memorizers of the Book of Allah have become lax in precision and have lost control of memorization due to neglecting understanding and contemplation, and then application and work, as was the methodology of our early predecessors – may Allah be pleased with them – in their dealing with the Quran, taking it, learning it, understanding it, and acting upon it. Memorization was not the goal in itself. Book International ISBN: 978-603-00-5226-5 Language: Arabic Binding: Cover Type of paper: Japanese Shinwata Number of pages: 88 Size: 17 × 24 cm Number of volumes: 1 Edition number: 3 Year of printing: 2018 Introduction to the third edition: Praise be to Allah, and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family, companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment. After: Success, prosperity, and achievement are from Allah’s favor upon the servant. Thanks and praise be to Allah who granted us success and blessed us in the first and second editions of this book, which achieved great acceptance and widespread distribution, to the extent that the idea of a mental map of the Quran in general and Surah Al-Baqarah in particular became a study method trained to generations in many places for the great fruit that became clear in the memorization of the memorizer or the contemplation and understanding of the reader of the surah. Due to the depletion of previous editions and in response to demand and insistence from inside and outside, here is the third edition of the book in your hands, hoping for Allah’s acceptance and sincerity in serving His Noble Book, and facilitating its memorization and contemplation for all Muslims. Introduction to the first edition: Praise be to Allah who revealed His clear light, upon His trustworthy Messenger’s heart; to clarify to people what was revealed to them, so they may reflect. And prayers and peace be upon this noble prophet, and upon his noble family, companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment. After: It is agreed upon among all Muslim men and women that our sovereignty in this world and our success in the Hereafter are only through holding fast to the Book of Allah, in knowledge, understanding, reflection, contemplation, action, and application. The Quran is our shield, our salvation, our happiness, and the foundation of our religion and our world, as our Lord – glory be to Him – said: {Indeed, We have sent down to you a Book in which is your remembrance. Then will you not reason?} [Al-Anbiya: 10]. Meaning: We have sent down to you a noble Book, a clear Quran, in which your honor, reputation, pride, and elevation in this world and the Hereafter are contained, if you hold fast to its rope. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, I have left among you two things, you will not go astray after them: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.” And Allah will ask us about this great blessing and favor: Have we benefited from it and elevated ourselves because of it, or did we abandon it except for superficial reading and listening? And some among us made it behind their backs?! Allah the Almighty said: {And indeed, it is a reminder for you and your people, and you will be questioned about it} [Az-Zukhruf: 44]. Meaning: You will be asked about this Quran, how you worked with it and responded to it. Our righteous predecessors – may Allah be pleased with them – handled the Quran well in their days and golden era, which was the reason for their glory, honor, and strength. But deviation began to seep gradually into the approach to dealing with the Quran after the blessed centuries, and the deviation reached its peak in some ages of decline and stagnation, to the point that someone said: Contemplating and understanding the Great Quran and acting upon it is only permissible for the exerters of effort who make absolute effort?! Although our era – thanks to Allah and His bounty – is an era of returning to the Book and the Sunnah, we still suffer from some remnants of that period. Our era is characterized by memorization, intensive courses, hundreds of thousands of Quran memorizers, associations for memorization, and Quran circles more numerous and widespread than ever before. All this is good, blessed, and promising, but many memorizers and students of the Quran complain about the Quran slipping away and being forgotten despite their striving in review and repetition, which has caused some of them anxiety and worry, and then laziness and apathy! Perhaps some of their faith has declined and regressed! Not to mention many ordinary people, even intellectuals, who read the Quran and scatter it without understanding or contemplation. So how about action and application?! I am one of these people; how many times I wake up and blame myself for my distance from the Quran and my engagement with its verses and their impact on my life. I jump up and return to some time, then quickly drown, like others, in the seas of worldly affairs and their preoccupations. Five of my children – boys and girls – who Allah blessed with memorizing the Quran, help me in these spiritual awakenings. They, too, suffer from the struggle with review and forgetfulness. During my participation in a training course about the science of mental maps and their effects on human life, I had the idea: why not benefit from it in contemplating and memorizing the Quran? Thus began the project. After discussions and sessions with my children, the start was with Surah Al-Baqarah, during a blessed and spiritual time in Ramadan 1430 AH. The results were astonishing and surprising, to the point that my daughter Ghalia said: “I read Surah Al-Baqarah for years, and I struggled to memorize it, but I never imagined that I could grasp the overall meaning and themes with such deep interconnectedness unless I truly lived through the thematic unity of the surah via the mental map!” She was right. The clarity of the surah and its meanings became personally evident and clear to me as never before, thanks to Allah. All praise and thanks be to Him. That is why I was keen to complete and publish this project so that its benefit would spread, hoping for reward and good in serving the Noble Quran. I am aware that it needs reviews, perspectives, and consultations, and those I consulted and read their opinions urged me not to delay publishing it for the benefit of all. Any modifications, additions, or opinions will be included in subsequent editions, especially since the Quran’s memorization, contemplation, and reflection are not limited to any person or group. There is no need for extensive research or reflection, as every knowledgeable person and scholar recognizes that the approach of the early generations in reading, memorizing, understanding, and acting upon the Quran is the effective cure and the best way to return to the Quran and handle it easily. Hence, this brief research aims to identify the best and easiest way to contemplate and memorize the Quran together, benefiting from the role of what is called the thematic unity of the surahs in reinforcing and consolidating memorization, and using the mental map as a tool and aid in identifying and revealing the thematic unity and linking the verses of the surah to it. This research is limited to Surah Al-Baqarah as a model, with the hope that others will follow, God willing. I had also begun looking into Surah Al-Fatiha and exploring the secrets behind the obligation to recite it seventeen times daily in the obligatory prayers, in a brief study I called: “The secrets of repetition for the greatest surah in the Quran, as in the hadiths and narrations.” All of this is based on the methodology of the righteous predecessors and the best of the generations in their dealings with the Quran, their way of memorization and contemplation, and their approach. We compare our situation with theirs, try to uncover mistakes, correct them, address gaps, and minimize them as much as possible to correct the course, criticize faults, avoid them, and praise and support the positives. This is one of the main principles upon which renewal and a return to our glorious past are based, dressed in the new era’s attire and spirit. The principles come first; therefore, I will carry the responsibility, along with others, to bring ourselves and people back to reading, contemplating, and applying the Quran according to the correct methodology guided by our role model and beloved ﷺ, which is truly the key to honor, progress, and true civilization. May Allah grant success and guide us to the straight path.